Monday, November 5, 2012

The Mnemosyne Weekly: Poem Thirty-Six (MacLeish)

Well, we've all got our ideas about what a poem should be--at least in my fantasy world, where everyone cares about poetry enough to debate the topic. In this week's selection, "Ars Poetica" by Archibald MacLeish,we have a poem about what a poem should be. And though I'm not in full agreement, I do admire what MacLeish says, and, even more, I love the way he says it--the images and metaphors, the sections, the clean lines and flighty couplets--all inspire a sense of quiet beauty. And, I'm sure you can tell by the O'Keeffe pairing what one of my favorite couplets is: "A poem should be wordless /As the flight of birds."

It will be rather a long poem to memorize, but it will be worth it. Enjoy!

Archibald MacLeish

Ars Poetica

By Archibald MacLeish

A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,

Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—

A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.

*

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind—

About Me

I'm an author, a professor, a book reviewer at-large for The National Poetry Review, a contributing editor for Tiferet Journal, host of the radio interview program Tiferet Talk, and a teaching artist for The Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative. My books include the bestselling novel Six Weeks to Yehidah (winner of the Forward National Literature Award, finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award), the companion journal My Yehidah (both published by All Things That Matter Press), and the forthcoming collection of interviews, The Tiferet Talk Interviews.